The_Dangers_of_North_Korea

Evan Gehring 12-12-09 Block 4B The Dangers of North Korea The United States of America (U.S.)is a country that, by this point in history, has established itself as a strong country, almost invincible, some would say. And yet, there exists a small country, one that “can barely keep the lights on” (Martin 1), which seems so dangerous to this strong nation, that it is considered to be one of the most hazardous countries in the world, enough to be considered a part of an “axis of evil.” For about half a decade now, North Korea has remained one of the most isolated countries in the world, in every way imaginable. Economically, politically, and socially, North Korea wishes to have as few relations with the rest of the world as possible. Thus, the nation’s economy, as well as its citizens, suffers severely (Cooper 325). And yet, it is so feared. It is often wondered what is going inside of this “black hole” that is North Korea, and nobody seems to really know. What little is known, however, is what is so frightening. President George W. Bush announced during his State of the Union Address on January 29, 2002 that the U.S. was facing against an “axis of evil,” which included Iran, Iraq, and North Korea. This was when he feared that North Korea was developing nuclear weapons, and knew that they had a history of aggression and that those two things combined could be a very dangerous thing for the world. While planning the next move to stop the nuclear program, North Korea admitted in April of 2003 for the first time that they did indeed posses nuclear weapons, violating both the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons(NPT) of 1985 as well as the Agreed Framework of 1994 (Nuclear Weapons Program 1). By doing this, North Korea had proven that no treaty would stop them from achieving their goals regarding nuclear weapons, meaning that no matter what the U.S. did, the program would continue. Since the 1980’s, especially from 2002 until the present, North Korea has proved time and time again that they are a dangerous threat to the world that must be stopped. Over the last 25 years, the US has taken many precautions in order to try to prevent North Korea from developing a nuclear program. In 1985, North Korea signed the NPT, a treaty that became open for signature in 1968 (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty1). Later, in an agreement signed by both North and South Korea in 1991, both countries “pledged not to possess nuclear weapons, not to possess plutonium reprocessing or uranium enrichment facilities, and to negotiate a mutual nuclear inspection system” (Niksch15). The following year, North Korea signed and agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), forcing them to report any nuclear programs to the IAEA, and allowing the IAEA to conduct inspections. Eventually, after many negotiations, North Korea and the U.S. signed the Agreed Framework in 1994, giving North Korea benefits having to do with energy and economy, and in return North Korea would “freeze” all of its nuclear programs (Niksch16). For now, it seemed as if the U.S. had nipped this conflict in the bud. Unfortunately, the world would find out eight years later that this had never been the case. The real conflict began in late 2002, when North Korea announced to the world that they had nuclear weapons in their hands, and had withdrawn from or broken every treaty that they ever signed having to do with nuclear programs. “North Korea’s decisions at the end of 2002 to restart nuclear installations … that were shut down under the U.S.-North Korean Agreed Framework of 1994 and to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and its multiple missile tests of July 4, 2006, create a foreign policy problem for the United States. Restarting the Yongbyon facilities opens up a possible North Korean intent to stage a “nuclear breakout” of its nuclear program and openly produce nuclear weapons. North Korea has also threatened to test a nuclear weapon” (Niksch 2). Many of North Korea’s actions within the last decade have proven that they can never be trusted or underestimated. Thus, the Bush administration took many actions to counter these possible dangers. After North Korea broke the Agreed Framework, the U.S. terminated it, and had a strategy, which included not doing anything until North Korea started to stop its programs, putting economic pressures on North Korea, and “imposing financial sanctions on foreign banks that facilitate North Korea’s illegal counterfeiting activities” (Niksch 2). Nevertheless, even with this new strategy, the U.S. government was still very paranoid and afraid of what might come of these new nuclear programs. In 2003, the government feared that at any point, North Korea could strike with their weapons, for they had no response to U.S. actions. At this point, it was known that North Korea was in the possession of at least one nuclear weapon, very possibly more. Because of this, if there ever was a war that struck from North Korea, it would be a much more dangerous opponent than even Iraq. The paranoia that sprung from this in the U.S. government led to the creation of a fictional scenario named Operation Plan 5027: “Along the heavily guarded demilitarized zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea, deadly chemicals released by a barrage of North Korean artillery shells doom 630 South Korean and American soldiers to a grisly death. Other rounds pound South Korea’s capital, Seoul, 30 miles to the south. The tanks – carrying North Korean soldiers clad in chemical-protection gear – roll into Seoul. “The invasion would be over within hours – but the victory short-lived. Superior U.S. and South Korean firepower would drive the invaders back across the DMZ in a day or two. But an estimated 1 million people, mostly civilians in Seoul, would be killed” (Cooper 323). These thoughts are what fueled Bush’s belief that North Korea should be treated as part of the “axis of evil,” which meant that the government had a new goal of finding and destroying North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction. However, due mainly to fears of North Korea’s capabilities, no drastic measures were taken. “North Korea expelled international inspectors and withdrew from six-nation denuclearization talks in April, then conducted its second nuclear test in May. Although security experts estimate North Korea has produced enough plutonium for perhaps four to eight bombs, they mainly fear Pyongyang will sell nuclear materials and technology to other countries or groups” (Weeks 828-829). It now seems that North Korea is not just developing nuclear weapons for its own benefit. North Korea seems as if they would like to wage war against the U.S., or just attack it, because the U.S. broke its promises when North Korea broke theirs. Today, many people in America fear what would happen in a war was waged between the U.S. and North Korea. Both nations have a strong military force, and both have developed nuclear weapons. Luckily for the U.S., the North’s neighbors, South Korea, are on the U.S.’s side, and so that adds half a million soldiers who already are positioned strategically to fight a war against the North. It is fairly obvious that the U.S. would win such a war, and yet many fear that North Korea would still wish to fight it just to “‘make the war so painful to the United States and South Korea that we will not pursue it to the end,’” (Martin 1). North Korea’s main goal today is to make the U.S. and South Korea suffer as much as possible, and will go to any lengths to make that happen. Their leader, Kim Jong-Il, has demonstrated time and time again that he is willing to even make his own people suffer, so he would most likely have no problem doing it to an enemy (Cooper 324). There is a very high risk of danger associated with trying to attain world piece. No matter what someone does, they are always going to be making someone happy and upsetting someone else. America just wants the world to be happy, but countries like North Korea don’t want America to be happy, so they will do whatever is in their power to make that not happen. North Korea is a country that may not have much, but spends all of what it does have on its military of over one million men, double the size of South Korea’s military and over 30 times the size of the U.S. military (Martin1). Ever since the Korean War in the 50’s, when the U.S. helped South Korea to expand their borders in an effort to erase Communism, there has existed a great tension between the two countries, and now it is finally being shown to the world and discussed. North Korea, due to its nuclear program, is and extremely dangerous nation to the world, and must be stopped. Due to its constant breaking of promises and demonstrations of aggression and strong nuclear capabilities, North Korea has earned its place in the axis of evil. It is a main target of the war on terror, and in order to halt terrorism, the U.S. must halt North Korea. Works Cited Cooper. "North Korean Crisis." CQ Researcher. CQ Press, 11 Apr. 2003. Web. 17 Dec. 2009. http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/getpdf.php'file=cqr20030411C.pdf. Kværna, Tormod. "North Korea's Nuclear Test." _Seismological Research _Lettersq 78.5 (2007). Geo Science World. Seismological Society of America. Web. 18 Dec. 2009. http://srl.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/short/78/5/487. Martin, David. "What Would Happen if North Korea Attacked' - CBS Evening News - CBS News." Breaking News Headlines: Business, Entertainment & World News - CBS News. Web. 17 Dec. 2009. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/12/16/eveningnews/main5987983.shtml'tag=cbsnewsTwoColUpperPromoArea. Niksch, Larry A. "North Korea’s Nuclear Weapons Program." CRS Report for Congress. The Library of Congress, 5 Oct. 2006. Web. 17 Dec. 2009. http://www.gayrefugee.info/crs_country/CRSReportNorthKorea'sNuclearWeaponsProgram(October5,2006)Update.pdf. "Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty [NPT]." Federation of American Scientists. Web. 17 Dec. 2009. http://www.fas.org/nuke/control/npt/. Weeks, Jennifer. "Nuclear Disarmament." CQ Researcher 19.34 (2009): 813-836. CQ Researcher. Web. 17 Dec. 2009. http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre2009100200.